I'm a baby boomer trapped in an office full of GenXers.  They sometime
use the phrase "jumping the shark."  Where does the phrase come from
and what does it mean?  Hint!  When I searched the Google Answers site
for "Shark."  I came up with this.

per pinkfreud.....

"3. Lou Grant, of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." If it weren't for Ed
Asner's quirky charm, Lou Grant would have come across as a villain
and a bully (especially in the show's early seasons.) As the writers
warmed up to Lou's comic possibilities, Lou became more and more
human, and his flaws (stubbornness, irascibility, the tendency to
belittle the weak) became endearing. When Lou got his own show, the
character went into the dumper without even jumping the shark. The
very first episode of the "Lou Grant" show made it clear that Lou was
IMPORTANT. And, of course, that meant that now he wasn't funny."

OK I still don't know what it means.  Help!

Hello.

"Jumping the Shark" is slang for the moment when a good television
program went bad.

The term began as a reference to the 1970s sitcom "Happy Days." In one
episode, Fonzie (Henry Winkler) did a water-ski jump over a shark.
"Happy Days" fans consider this gimmicky episode the beginning of the
end for the show.

Source: jumptheshark.com
http://www.jumptheshark.com/about.htm

Additional source: On Magazine
"'Jumping the shark,' which deserves to  become a household phrase,
refers to the "Happy Days" episode in which the writers, having run
out of plausible situations for  Fonzie, had him jump over a shark, in
his leather jacket, on water skis."
http://www.onmagazine.com/on-mag/magazine/04012001/tv_rev.html

Search strategy: "jumping the shark", "happy days"

I hope this helps.

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Request for Answer Clarification by gooru-ga on 30 Oct 2002 10:05 PST

juggler,

So in an office context if a GenXer says to me.... "Dude, looks like
you just jumped the shark." that would mean that from his perspective
he thinks I just made a career ending blunder?

-gooru

---

Clarification of Answer by juggler-ga on 30 Oct 2002 10:14 PST

Well, I can't say for sure what your Gen-X colleague had in mind when
he said that, but the term has become general slang for "declining,"
"past its prime" or "going downhill."

See this explanation from a newsgroup message archived by Google
Groups:
"Jumping the shark applies not only to TV, but also music, film,
even everyday life. 'Did you see her boyfriend? She definitely
jumped the shark.' You get the idea."
http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=3AF8777A.7F9A0287%40austin.rr.com&output=gplain

I hope this helps.